Continuing the tradition of hosting a wine festival in winter each year, the Pune Gourmet Club held the 5th Annual Pune Wine Tasting Festival at the Rohi Villa lawns on December 24th and 25th, 2011, reports SI correspondent, Brinda Gill from Pune. The festival featured 17 wineries offering a combined tasting of over a hundred wines.

Napa Valley produces some great wines by owners and winemakers with a strong desire to make a name for themselves. On the one hand you have the old-timer large scale investment-intensive prominent wineries such as the Robert Mondavi, Trefethen and Sterling Vinyards and on the other, the small artisan model producing minute quantities of superlative wines with utmost care and passion, writes SI contributor, Sonal Holland, who met one such producer couple - Shari and Garen Staglin of the Staglin Family Vineyard Estate. Pictured: Shari and Garen in the Staglin Family Vineyard. Photo: Eric Risberg

Wine in India has gained tremendous popularity in the last few years. People are writing about it, finding out more about it, understanding the many varietals wine has, and are discovering more and more ways of enjoying this beverage, writes Shreya Chauhan. Left: Chef Saby puts the finishing touches on a dish to be served with wine

It's Christmas! A time to rejoice and celebrate all things great and small. And what better way than to break bread with the people you care for. There are offerings galore and we're spoiled for choice. An old favourite is The Oberoi, Mumbai and a current one The Aman in Delhi. Pictured: Grilled Ginger and Chilli Lobster at Ziya, The Oberoi, Mumbai

The Table, a Mumbai-style San Francisco inspired wine bar and restaurant, has introduced Champagne High Tea. Afternoon Tea is a favourite break for many people. The day is winding down and you are feeling just that little bit pecky. The Table's Executive Chef Alex Sanchez has just the right answer, writes Brinda Gill.

A fabulous range of Indian wines, both old favourites and recent additions to the market, featured at the third Bandra Wine Tasting Festival, reports Suneeta Sodhi Kanga. Mumbai's most awaited wine tasting festival drew large crowds of visitors eager to further their acquaintance with more than 45 wines from India. Pictured: Vallone stand at the Bandra Wine Tasting Festival, 12-13 November 2011

Indian Wines to see you through 2012
If I was asked to select one wine from India's top producers, I would choose a Viognier from Grover, one of the earliest producers of this varietal, Chenin Blanc from newcomer, Fratelli, because it's dry, and Sauvignon Blanc from Sula for its fragrant nose and consistency.

The Annual Gala Wine Tasting & Celebration Dinner jointly hosted by The Wine Society of India and Sommelier India presents a great opportunity to meet members of the Indian wine fraternity including consumers, producers and importers. Everybody present looked resplendent and was eager to try the different wines on offer, says contributing writer, Sonal Holland.
Pictured above: Reva K. Singh presenting Chintamani Rao a Gift Subscription to Sommelier India

Expert cheese-maker Sohrab Chinoy, Director, ABC Farms, Pune, says, "Wine and cheese are an inseparable combination," writes Brinda Gill describing the wonderful variety of cheese on display along with a choice of wines at the ABC Farms Cheese Festival 2011. The Cheese Festival took place on 3rd and 4th December 2011 at ABC Farms, Koregaon Park Pune.

Boisset Family Estates, a major wine player in Burgundy, the Rhône and California, has closed a deal to buy Languedoc-based Skalli Family Wines, a pioneer in southern France. Although the price is not known, the deal adds 1.5 million cases of annual production and over 6,000 acres' worth of grower contracts to the Boisset portfolio, which will now produce 7.5 million cases a year from its 25 wineries, writes Ben O'Donnell in the Wine Spectator.

"Sales of Burgundy have been on the rise for several years in Asia," Louis-Fabrice Latour, Chairman of the Union of Burgundy Wine Markets (FNEB) told Marisa D'Vari from Sommelier India after a press conference given by the BIVB before the 151st Hospices de Beaune auction.